Palletizer



J. K. BRUCE March 31 1953 PALLETIZER l0 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 2, 19425 IIIIIIIIIIII' 1' 4 & INVENTOR. fa/6v K. flew:

March 31, 1953 J. K. BRUCE 2,633,251

PALLETIZER Filed Feb; 2, 1948 l Sheets-Sheet 2 76 J6 I 77 3 I! P ,Up 44 I I 2' l 1 w i 7 I l INVEN TOR.

J. K. BRUCE PALLETIZER March 31, 1953 lo Sheets-Sheet3 Filed Feb. 2, 1948 IN V EN TOR. L/wm/ K 6/2005 J. K. BRUCE PALLETIZER March 31, 1953 10 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 2, 1948 INVENTOR.

Jox/n/ March 31, 1953 J. K. BRUCE 2,633,251

PALLETIZER Filed Feb. 2, 1948 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 J7 {12; 4 4 3 2 1 LAYER]- qf fi fi m TURN man man RAM RAM ""1 1 e 5 A 54 l234567'8810 5N9 J7 *SEQIIENCE IZAM 5 2 1 1 B RAM R M l m" mu\ 5 a -5 4 LAYER 4 10 a a 1 RAM -TURN DIAGRAM I E sequmcz RELAY To run RELAY RAM cour4crs- J L .5'A

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E] El g g J COUNTING RELAYS INTERCOMECTED THRU COUNTING .520 4 COUNTING, PULSE 6 SEQUENCE CIRCUITS IN V EN TOR. Jw/v K 6590c:

' fill orig 31, 1953 J K, BRUCE 2,633,251

PALLETIZER I 10 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Feb. 2, 1948 Courmuousw L RoTATmeTum'rAoLE v 24 I BASIC TURN CIRCUIT .l l I I2 17 218 sag. v TURN RELAY Lmme Morph. -o-. A sEQUENcE a smuenca To COUNTING SELF HOLDING BRANcI-I RELAYS To GROUND L v. d yzz '34 BASIC RAM cmcuar' sank IN V EN TOR. v

Jb/l/v KBeucz March 1953 I J; K. BRUCE 2,633,251

PALLETIZER Filed Feb. 2, 1948 10 Sheets-Sheet 7 Hanan. ARM

BASICSTRIP cmcun $120. etflr MANUAL s11 Eli! 5W- $\R\P IMPULSQ zmgzvroza. v

1 24 BASIC. BY J W 1 I 1 107m ELEVATOR CIRCUIT fi g J. K. BRUCE PALLETIZER March 31, 1953 10 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed Feb. 2, 1948 Jw/A/ A4 620:5

March 31, 1953 BRUCE 2,633,251

PALLETIZER Filed'Feb. 2, 1948 10 Sheets-Sheet 10 R. Joy/v K Eel/c5 I III 11/7717 Jilorny 7 rigid stack on the pallet.

j palletisobtained. Thesliding Patented Mar. 31, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE raLLE'rIz's-n John K; Bruce, s uth Pasadena, Ga1ir'., assignor "16 Production Aids, Inc. North Hollywood, Calif., a corporation of California A fl m i w i 2, tstetrial ith? '24 Elaifiis. (Cl; gi l-*6) My invention relates to a machine tor aut m i a l adin c ntainer pnpa c s nrepara toryto' shipmento'r sto'r e. These rnachines are generally referred to in the ii 163. 121? as palleta izers.

?resent day material handling is leased upon the use of pallets which arev portable platforms having iz amiwximaiel iir I e by f u feet. fmmeworh construction so that the tines pi iirt trucks may be inserted ,ingthe1pa1i t -to lift and-move the pallets, "together with their loads, which loads maybe foi r feet-to six feetin height. Alternatively; the pallets maybe provided with skids that provide the necessary never-10am the load-supporting surface I so that jhandling equipment may engage the pallet. Pallets are used to receive cartons or boxes from factory packaging "lines, are used tor moving these I cartons to the carrier or-warehouse are iis'ed for supporting the boxes during transportation or storage; and arealso -nsed j for delivery oi the goods to the bulk consumer.

' 'Heretofore pallet loading has "been performed by hand labor. While various s'enii -aiitoinatic machines have "been "built and -niarketed -for bricks and -sirriilar products; there has v been rip successful machine developed "for pallet loading; Pallet loading therefore "has been expensive and uni'f ormity' of stacking has been 'lackmg. a

My invention provides al-completely automatic machine for loading pallets. nmpty pailets may be fed into one ehdpf-the machine, and cartons or boxes fed in from the sidepand loaded pallets may bedelivered out theother end. Not only does my palleti-z'ei' accurately layer and stack the cartons and boxes,*-but in addition arranges non-cubic boXes in'--an-y seleoted pat tern so that the boxes of 'diffe'rentlayers will interlock or --overlap --ahd provide V sta 1e and "In general my palletizei employs a hopper or magazine for receivinga amb r of empty pallets. At the proper interval. a pallet ante maticallyremove'd "from-the-hottom orthe magacollecte'd, a ram automaticallyishoves them onto the deck. Successive rows..are.thusdeposited lt' lel a ay .until a comp .ete 'layerutor the neck is then pulled i ihe pal ets en rally cmp an o en v .50 ing deck, and when a row'of cartons'has been" ou h m unde he o es de sitin t m on the pallet. Because of this stripping action, the idih flek may appropriately be called a strip.-

tier plate. 7

As soon as the stripper plate is retracted, the elevator automatically lowers ,to dispose the tops of the, boxesiust'below the level of the strip: per plate, whereupon the elevator stops and the st i r plateretur sg .{r emmmay then slide onto the plate a row ofjoartonsthat .inay hate collectedin the, meantime. This cycle continues ti a ufiiciieni nu br cri ter ar d i d one on top of the othenrat which time theele vator automatically lowers all the way to deposit the fully loaded pallet on a conveyor chain that delivers itto ,astaging .area, where ,it may behandled by tine trucks or other. material ham ox s or on la e to verlai th s o an t e layer to secnrfely bind the stack together. Also, thetiirntableis independentl useful in arrangiing theboxes of a single layer. so that theyrproptlyiitnpon theinal et- "fi r m he t eeii o tline o m pal it't'villbe obvious that the'interrelation of parts,

mus e. ca efu l controlled as to fu t ti a a dsequen e- Thisc htro is perrorme in ecq an w th :m inven ion .by an e c r cal system which may employ relays and switches as the principal f unctional elements. Further, the entire electrical system constructed so yi rmarib a tu ted b t e a rival a c mine. cont ine a .slcctedista dn- T h ontainers th mselves actu lly trieeehoritim the Syste 15 r t n beingfelerfients which aster; pattern t at p h her; t 6 9i:- trical system employs a counting array or chain or. other gist ice that stepped off one unit or inkcat, at tamer.

a Ityvillbe .obvious f rqrn-.,the; my invention that theprihci cal object is the containers are used, the turntable permits the byt -errat ea hber ies;

e gi g o tl n provision of an automatic palletizer of great versatility and flexibility as to size and shape of containers being loaded on pallets as well as flexibility and variety in the building of stacking patterns.

Another object is to provide a palletizer wherein pallets and cartons may be supplied to the machine, and which in turn automatically delivers pallets that are fully stacked with the cartons.

Another object of my invention is to provide a palletizer that employs a turntable so that any desired layer pattern may be achieved for the cartons that are to be loaded on a pallet.

Another object of my invention is to provide an automatic palletizer including a turntable for orienting containers and also including a control circuit so that the containers and successive layers on the pallet will be differently arranged so as to give interlocking stacking arrangements.

A further object is to provide a palletizer utilizing an elevator for the pallets so that a pallet may be lowered as it is successively stacked with layers of containers received at a station of constant elevation.

A further object of my invention is to provide a layer forming station for a palletizer machine in the form of a stripper plate permitting the deposit at one time of a complete layer of cartons upon a pallet without disturbing the preceding layer on the pallet.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a palletizer wherein containers are collected in rows on a loading platform and are removed therefrom a complete row at a time by means of a ram.

Another object of my invention is to provide a palletizer control system that is triggered by each container as it arrives at the palletizer.

Another object is the provision of a palletizer controlsystem that determines the sequence of operations of the palletizer and which is based on a counting array, chain, stepping switch or other device of sufficient length to respond once for each box in a pallet layer.

Another object is the provision of a palletizer control system including several phases or sequences so that the arrangement of containers from one layer to the next on a pallet may be varied.

Yet another object is to provide an electrical control circuit for a palletizer wherein. there are interlocks between various controls to stop a succeeding operation during, or upon the malfunctioning of, a prior operation.

There are numerous other objects, advantages, and features of my invention, but in the interest of brevity these will be presented and disclosed in the following description, considered together with the accompanying drawings forming an integral part of this specification, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, with portions broken away, of a palletizer machine incorporating the principal elements of my invention;

'Fig. 2 is an end view of the pallet magazine of the machine of Fig. 1, but with the end plate removed as well as the chain sprocket;

Fig. 3 is a side view of a portion of the pallet magazine operating mechanism as indicated by the lines III-III of Fig. 2;

a Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view corresponding to a portion of Fig. 2 but illustrating the magazine in a pallet releasing condition;

Fig. 5 is aschematic side view of the machine with the side plate removed illustrating a loaded pallet being fully lowered by the elevator and a fresh pallet being dropped for transmission to the elevator;

Fig. 6 is a view corresponding to Fig. 5 wherein the fresh pallet has been completely elevated by the elevator and the stack of pallets is supported in its usual manner; I

Fig. '7 is a fragmentaryperspec-tive view of the palletizer of Fig. 1 illustrating the stripper plate as fully extended over the elevator well so that it is ready to receive a fresh layer of containers;

Fig. 8 is a view corresponding to Fig. 7 illustrating the stripper plate as partially loaded and illustrating a container being turned on the turntable;

Fig. 9 is an elevation view from an opposite hand with respect to Fig. 1 of a switch located at the end of a pallet delivery chain and illustrating the switch in an inoperative position occurring when a fully loaded pallet descends in the elevator;

Fig; 10 is a view corresponding to Fig. 9 but illustrating the actuation of the switch by a fresh pallet being positioned in the elevator and illustrating the positioning function of the switch mechanism;

Figs. 11, 12, and 13 are elevation views of the various positions of the hanger arms above the stripper plate as a layer is fully positioned, after the layer has been stripped and lowered and the stripper plate returned, and as a fresh layer is being pushed onto the stripper plate;

Fig. 14 is a top view on an enlarged scale of the turntable of Fig. 1;

Fig. 15 is a sectional view taken along the line XVXV of Fi 14;

Fig. l6 is a perspective view, with portions broken away, of a conveyor gate that restrains packages when the ram is operating;

Fig. 17 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the gate of Fig. 16 as taken between the lines XVII--XVII of that figure;

- Fig. 18 (Sheet 3) is a perspective view of a control panel for use on the palletizer of Fig. 1;

Fig. 19 is a ram turn diagram illustrating the ram and turn functions as related to the units of a counting chain;

Fig. 20 is a circuit diagram illustrating the operation of the counting chain of a pulsing mechanism and a sequence mechanism;

Fig. 21 is a wiring diagram of the basic circuit for operating the turntable;

Fig. 22 is a wiring diagram of the basic circuit for operating the ram;

Fig. 23 is a wiring diagram of the basic circuit for operating the stripper plate;

Fig. 24 is a wiring diagram of the basic circuit for operating the elevator;

Fig. 25 is a wiring diagram of the basic circuit for operating the exterior conveyor or gate of the palletizer;

Fig. 26 is a wiring diagram of the interlock circuit between the stripper plate and the elevator controls; v

Fig. 27 is a wiring diagram of the interlock circuit extending between the ram and the stripper plate controls; and

Fig. 28 is a complete wiring diagram for the entire palletizer, of which the diagrams of Figs. 19 to 27, inclusive, are parts.

chine may be referred to by the numeral 30,

garter spring I05.

other end by a plunger 86. The stem 84 may have a bracket 3? connected thereto for contact by the ram plate it. Accordingly, when the ram is in its retracted position, the rear end of the ram plate will contact the bracket 81, compressing the spring 85 to pull the gate plate 85 to a retracted position below the rollers. When, however, the ram moves forward upon operation, the spring will be released and its compression will urge the plate Bl forwardly, causing it to rise. it will then be contacted by any containers that are delivered by the conveyor ll, and the containers will thus be stopped short of the ram.

The turntable 43 is provided particularly in accordance with my invention, and the detailed construction of one preferred form is illustrated in Figs. 14 and 15. The rotating elements of the turntable 43 may be in the form of four wheels 88 disposed between rollers Ma of the conveyor il." These rollers may be continuously rotating,

for example by a continuous chain contacting sprockets disposed on one end of the rollers. The wheels 88 may be mounted upon shafts 89 which in turn project from ears 9| secured to a horizontal plate 92 connected to a tubular shaft 93 mounted for sliding within a. bushing 94. A drive shaft 95 may pass through the tubular shaft 93 and may have a rotatable plate 96 connected to its upper end that is disposed within the confines of the ears 9! and which is adapted to engage the bottommost portion of the wheels 88. A pulley 97 may have a driving engagement with the central shaft 95, and in turn may be driven by a suitable belt or other drive connected to a prime mover such as an electric motor. Thus the plate 98 maybe rotated by the pulley 91 and in turn cause the wheels-88 to rotate.

It will be noted particularly with respect to Fig. 15 that the upper surfaces of the wheels 88 are normally disposed below the tops of the rollers Ma so that packages may normally pass along the conveyor 41 without interruption. If, however, the entire plate 92 is lifted, the wheels 88 will be lifted above the tops of the rollers 4 la, and if a container is centered over these wheels, the container will be rotated. The lifting may be performed by lifting the central drive shaft $5 by means of a motor 98. This in turn lifts the plate e2 because of the bearing of the tubular member 93 against the pulley 91. The motor 98 may be of any type adapted for a short lift of an inch or less, and while I have successfully utilized a hydraulic cylinder for this purpose, I prefer at present to use a solenoid or other form of electric motor. The plate 92 is prevented from rotating because of a pin 99 passing upwardly through an aperture therein.

The turntable 43 also includes a mechanism for automatically stopping its operation; that is, for controlling the lifting motor 98. This mechanism may be of any desired type, but I have selected a friction clutchlill as a suitable device for operating a switchSS, both disposed between the stationary plate 92 and the rotatable plate 56. Accordingly the switch S5 may be mounted on a crescent-shaped sector plate 13, the circular adjustment of which may be effected by means of a clamp screw WI. The friction clutch it! may be urged upwardly against the bottom surface of the rotatable plate 98 by means of 2.

Further, the clutch may include'a projecting finger its adapted to contact the switch S5, and may also include a block Mia adapted to contact the pin 99 during the unenergized condition of the turntable. For purposes of clarity of illustration, the finger W6 is shown in an intermediate position instead of in abutment against the post as would ordinarily be the condition.

Therefore as the plate 96 rotates, the friction clutch ill! rotates therewith until the finger block Iota strikes the post 99, and thereafter the clutch slips. When, however, the lifting motor 98 is energized, the plate is lifted sufficiently above the post 99 so that the finger block lilBa will clear the post and rotation of the finger will bring it into contact with the switch S5 which may, for example, be a microswitch, causing it to operate the switch which in turn deenergizes the motor 38 by a circuit illustrated in Fig. 21 and which will be described later, and the turntable drops.

The control conveyor 42 (Fig. 1) is adapted to receive packages from an assembly line as noted before, which assembly line preferably employs a gravity feed section just prior to delivery of containers to the conveyor 42. This permits control of the supply of containers to the pailetizer by the conveyor section 42, since a power drive of the main conveyor might over-v ride the control conveyor 42. The conveyor 52 preferably employs a plurality of rollers 32 which may be of any desired construction, for example standard ball bearing mounted rollers which are all driven by any suitable mechanism such as a continuous chain engaging sprockets disposed on one end of all of the rollers. The chain or other driving device may be energized by a motor l0! which may be supported by a depending framework it.

As previously mentioned, the control conveyor 42 operates in conjunction with the continuously operating conveyor 45 to stop the flow of containers to the palletizer when they arrive faster than the palletizer can consume them. This control function may be obtained by a plurality of feeler switches, one of which may be located on the control conveyor as SI5, and two of which may be located on the continuously moving conveyor ti as Slda and SMb. The switches SM are preferably disposed apart at a dimension equivalent to the length of a container so that if a container .is closing the switches SM and a succeeding package strikes a switch Sl5, the control conveyor 42 will be stopped. The

" switches Sit and SM may be suitably connected,

for example by a series-parallel circuit as illustrated in Fig. 25, so that SMa or SM?) and SIS must be operated to efiect the control function of stopping conveyor 42. A fourth feeler switch S4 may be the last one in the group with regard to the direction of travel of the packages, and may act as the principal control switch for the entire palletizer.

. The stripper plate 36 may be operated in any suitable manner, for example by the same rack --and gear mechanism employed by the ram 38,

chanical drive for the palletizer.

As noted particularly in Figs. 1 and '7, a pair of tracks are provided for the stripper plate 36, a lower track M2 on each'side serving for the a L retraction guiding path, and anupper track H3 eral inches above the tops of the cartons. of the preceding layer, and in the event. that there are any loose flaps on the containers or incompletely glued flaps, these will not be torn loose but instead will be flattened against the container when the stripper plate reaches its final Desi. tion over the'loading well "afterdropping from the top tracks H3.

The mechanism for determining the length of elevator movement downwardly is provided particularly in accordance with my invention, and includes a pair of hanger arms H4 illustrated generally in Fig. 1 and in detail in Figs; 11., 12', and 13. Spaced above the normal position of the stripper plate 36' and spanning the. well with in which the elevator rides maybe a bar H55 tcwhich may be. secured a pair of switches SH apposite the hangerarms H4. The "hanger arms may include an upper short link. H5 as, well as atelier lilmounted on the lower end. Therefore, as illustrated. Fig. 11, an incoming pack;- age will swing the hanger arm Ht upwardly in which position. the switch Sit is not actuated. Howeve when the stripper p ate has b en r treated nd he elevator begins to lower. th hanger l M. re ting .199 1 the cartons 3'! will follow the e ea to sscwn. due to ravity actin on the han er arm at its pi t to the cro s bar Hi. Wh n th contain rs elow the po ition of. the stripperplat 36 thehanger arm. H4 will be in strais it down position illu trated in. Fig. 12,v at, which p t. an, adjustm nt screw 1 It: will strike the witch Sill, actuatin it, The elev tor will cease its downward mov m n by a suitable circuit connect on such as that of an. 23, and th reafter the str pp r pl t 36 will. return to. its position Over the elevato Well- T e returning stripperplate, as illustrated in Fig. 12, will trike. the bottom end of the h ng r rm Hi, and the hangerarn will thereafter ride n top of the. stripp r p ate- The next l y f packages will pushtlle. hanger arm H4 upward y again, as illustrated in Fig. 13. Thus it is obvis us that the hanger arms H4 provide a followup type of mechanism for the elevator switch cone trot. which mechanism. op rates independ ntly of th s ze of icontainersbeing processed by the pellet zer. Furthermore. Jointed mech= anisin is foolproof and extremel relia le- T e general power requirements for the on tire pal s izc may be suitably met by the use. of a numbe of ind idual y c n olled electric. mow rsl W613 ccmmen so c of power may be P o i ed tor m t of the elements of t e paileti'zer, with the drives being made by selective clutches whe eintsrmi te t ope ation is desired. The chain drive 33 may be-cciit nuously opera-tr :ing at all times as well as the conveyq f 4!. The mm 38 and thestripper p at .3 are, of c urse. i e te tly operated, an in addi ion. the retracted stripper plate mustremain in its re: tracted position until the elevatorlowers. The control conveyor s2, as mentioned, may have a separate source of power, inasmuch as it is intermittently operated. The elevator'screws 35 may each be journaled in a thrust and gear box it, and maybe driven by a singl electric motor lea F-igs. Sand 5). As mentioned previously, the pallet releasemechanism is powered .by the elevator slides M. A pair of conveyors 1| 9 may 10 be used to carry away the loaded pallets, and these conveyors need not necessarily be driven.

Mechanical operation Referring to Fig. 1, containers of any desired type may be supplied to the control conveyor 42'. While these containers are preferably in the form of closed cartons of wood or paper, they may also be open-top wooden boxes such as are used for bottled products, or may be sacks of mate-.

rial such as cement, potatoes, etc. For purposes of illustration, containers in the form of closed cardboard boxes are used. These containers 3] are preferably rectangular in form so as to bring out the interlocking layer feature of my invent tion, and accordingly the containers may be fed lengthwise down the control conveyor 42. The containers successively actuate the switches Sl5, Sl-ia, St ll), and S4 to pass over the turntable 43 and onto the loading platform 39. In this connection it should be noted that the conveyor 4| is continuously operating, including the load ing platform section 39. The containers travel over the conveyor 4| to the end of the loading platform 35, whereupon they strike the side wall of the palletiz-er and stop. When a row of con-t tainers has been collected on the loading plat form 39 as determined by the counting impulses received by the control circuit from switch SQ, the ram 38 then operates.

The stripper plate 36 is normally positioned over the elevator well as illustrated in Figs. 5, 6, and 7. Therefore when the ram operates, it pushes an entire row of containers onto the near. est edge of the stripper plate. 7 ates by engagement of the gears l8 with the racks ll. when the drive shaft 19 is rotated.

During the ramming operation, the gate 3! (Figs. 14 to 17) is automatically raised due to the release of the compression spring by the ram plate l6 (Fig. 1) moving forward and releasing its contactwith the projecting ear 8'! on the ram plate stem. The raising action takes place due to the mounting of the plate 8! with screws 83 passingthrough the. inclined slots 82 in the plate-- When the ram returns to its rest position, the ram plate 16 again contacts the bracket 81, retractin the at plate 8 .l.

A second row of containers is. then permitted to passonto the loading platform 39. If desired. the entire row, or certa n boxes in the row, may be rotated so as to obtain any desired pattern. Turning i e ected by. op ration of the turnta le lift motor 88,. which lifts the rotatin drive shaft togeth r w th. its drive pull y 9 whi h ears a ainst the tubu Shaft 93. to lift the nonerotatable plate 52. Therefore the turn?- ingwhe ls 8 areele at abo e th tops of the conv y r o lers its and thus en a e a c ntainer to lift it off of the rollers. The plate 9.6 being continuously rotating, imparts a rotary motion to the Whee s 38, causing t em to rotate h tainer beine lifted.

The amou t of rotation is determined by the posit on f the stop pin as relative o the c n trol switch S5 as act d up n y a frictio clutch finger 1G6. Lifting of the plates 92 and 86 also lifts the friction clutch llil, permitting the finger block IBM to pass over the top of e r raining pints- Th fri ti nal ncasement w th the c ntinuous y rotating plate 36 cares t e f ger iii in a ro ary movement. until it nt s s itch $5.. This switch in turn desirrsizes th ifti g tor 98. causin t Plates 9 a d 96 t lo er th r by stoppin the turnin function of the turntable 43.

The ram oper In the event that containers are supplied to' the control conveyor 42 faster than the palletizer can handle the containers, the flow of containers will be automatically stopped by stopping the control conveyor 42. This conveyor control is effected by the feeler switches Sl5, SMa, and Sl lb. If a container is on the continuous operating conveyor 4! in such a position as to actuate switches sl la or $1412, it is obviously too close to the control conveyor 42 to permit a second container to be moved directly on top of it, particularly during the turning function where the container remains non-conveyed for the duration of the turning action. Therefore a successive container close enough to operate switch Sl5 will close a circuit that will stop the control conveyor 42 by stopping its driving motor ifil. The preceding container will move along the conveyor 4i, however, since it is continuously moving, and when switch S4 is operated, the control conveyor 42 will again become energized, supplying another container to the conveyor 4!. Thus a mere release of either Slta or SM?) will not initiate the motion of the control conveyor 42, although the circuits could be set up in this fashion if it were desired to obtain a more speedy operation. In this fashion the containers being run onto the continuously moving conveyor M are automatically spaced to not only give a proper time of operation for the turntable, but also to provide an interruption of operation of the control switch S4 which in effect must feel or count individual containers rather than have a long single operation as would occur if two containers were passing end-to-end.

The container in its rotated condition will then proceed down the conveyor 4| to the loading platform 39, where it will abut against the preceding container, assuming that it is not the first one in that row. While I have shown'in the drawings complete rows being turned, it will be obvious that individual containers in one row may be rotated if desired.

A second row of containers having been assembled on the loading platform 39, the ram 38 will again be operated, forcing this row onto the stripper plate 35. The second row will also contact the first row, shoving this first row towards the middle of the stripper plate. Successive rows will be accumulated on the loading platform 39 and will be rammed therefrom until the entire stripper plate is completely filled.

When the stripper plate is completely filled, the stripper plate will automatically strip out from under the containers as pre-determined by the counting chain that is stepped off by contact of the containers with the feeler switch S4. With reference to Figs. 1, 5, 6, and 7, the stripper plate will move towards the right in a stripping action and the cartons assembled thereon will abut against an end wall 50. The cartons Will then be pulled together by the stripping action, and as the plate slips out from under them, they will drop downwardly one or two inches until they strike either the pallet below or the preceding layer of cartons. The stripper plate will remain retracted and the elevator 34 will then begin to lower. This lowering action is effected by the motor 10a (Figs. 5 and 6) operating upon the gear boxes 10 to rotate the elevator screws 35 upon which the elevator slides 44 are threaded.

The slides 44 will then lower, carrying with them the pallet and the cartons loaded thereon. The hanger arms (Figs. 11, 12, and 13) will follow the tops of the cartons downwardly, and when the hanger arms are straight down, the switch Sill will lee-actuated, causing the elevator to stop. The length of the hanger arms H4 is such that the stripper plate 36 may then safely return without striking the cartons, and when it is fully returned, as illustrated in Fig. '7, the stripper plate is then again ready to receive additional rows of containers. These containers in the meantime may have collected on the loading platform 39 while the elevator was lowering so that immediately upon full return of the stripper plate, the appropriate interlock circuit may be released to permit the ram 38 to shove the cartons endwise off of the rollers of the loading platform onto the stripper plate.

When a sufficient stack of cartons has been formed layer by layer on a pallet, the elevator will be at a low enough position to strike a keepalive switch that will continue the downward movement of the elevator until it strikes the bottom of its travel. In so dropping, it depositsthe loaded pallet on the pair of chains 51 which are continuously moving and the loaded pallet is carried out of the palletizer onto the standby conveyors H9 (Fig. 1).

The last part of the downward movement of the elevator slides 44 also energizes the pallet magazine release mechanism to cause a fresh pallet to be dropped upon the chains 51 so that it may be carried forward to the elevator well in position for elevation just below the stripper plate. The lugs 45, together with their pins 46 on the elevator slides 44, contact their respective yokes 41, causing the shafts 53 to be rotated, in turn causing the support bars 56 (Figs. 2 and 4) to be rotated to a lower position. Simultaneously the arm 52 acting through the chain 63 permits the lever 6m to fall, causing a straightening of the toggle arms 65 as illustrated in Fig. 3, particularly under the influence of the counterbalance Weight 60. This causes the shafts 51 to rotate so that their plates 58 are positioned between the stringers of a pallet as illustrated in Fig. 3. In this connection it should be noted that the plates 68 are interposed for their support action prior to the dropping of the pallet stack so that little or no load is imposed on the shafts 61 until after the toggle is locked as illustrated in Fig. 3. When the support bars 55 drop below the level of the chain 51, the lowermost pallet is accordingly supported by the chains and is carried forward to the elevator. It is thereupon engaged by the angles on each elevator slide 44 and lifted to the position illustrated inFig. 6 just below the stripper plate 35. The lifting of the elevator slides 44 drives the yokes 47 in opposite directions, not only driving the support bars 56 to their support position shown in Fig. 2, but also forcibly pulling the crank 62, together with the chain 63 and the lever 6|, to break the toggle to release the remainder of the stack, of pallets so that it may again rest upon the bars 56.

The fresh pallet being moved forwardly to the elevator on the chains 51 is halted by means of the stop and switch mechanism illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10. Accordingly the fresh pallet strikes the upper bar H, rotating the cranks t9 counterclockwise as viewed in those figures, and causing the bracket 14 on one of them to strike the stop 13. At the same time a switch Sl2 associated with each stop is actuated, and by having the switches in series on each chain, the pallet will be straightened before it will be lifted by the elevator.

Gonversely. thestop mechanism. isnot. energized when a loaded pallet descends inthe elevator because the end of. the top bar ll projects over the downward path of the pallet and accordingly is contacted by the. pallet. to rotate the. cranks to the position illustrated in broken outline in Fig; 9. The chains thus may move the loaded pallet olf of the ends without hindrance from the stop mechanism.

Ram and turn operations As mentionedpreviously, my control circuit. together with theturntable, permits the building of pallet stacks that are interlocked. The interlocking is achieved by having; the containers of one layer in a different pattern from those of thev preceding, layer so that the containers overlap one-another to bind the stack togethen. Each layer is formed of rows which in turn are formed by theram, and the turning of complete rows or individual packages in a row forms the overlapping. Accordingly', therefore, the locking stacking arrangement is a function primarily of the ram and turntable.

Referring to Fig. 19,. there isillustrated a layer A, and a. layer B, each having a different. geometric arrangement but eachcontaining the same number of cartons or containers. This particular arrangement of two layers is for illustrative purposes only; inasmuch as it is the simplest explanation of my invention as contrasted to layers of different numbers and layers wherein only certain containers of one row are rotated rather than the whole row. With reference to layer A, it will be noted that cartons l to 4, inclusive, have been rotated 90, assuming that the ram function takesplace from the bottom of each layer as shown, and that the packages are fed in from the lefthand side of each layer as shown, as is the case with the-palletizer machine of. Fig. 1. Therefore the uppermost row of four cartons of layer A includes the cartons tha-twere first assembled on the loading platform 39-. The second. row including cartons 6, and l, was formed by having the containers pass over the turntable without interference. In this connection the containers illustrated have a dimension such that three times the length equals four times the width, a commoncontainer size used in industry. Likewise the third row of three cartons of layer. A includes cartons, that were not rotat ed. The numberingof the cartons from i to [0, inclusive, of each layer indicates the sequence in which they arrived at the palletizer.

Asmentioned previously, my invention includes the use of. a counting chain that has one linl: or unit responsive to each container in a layer. Inasmuch as the layers A and B include ten con tainers each, the counting chain is provided with ten links or units. While the counting chain could be in the form of a rotary stepping switch, I-find it more convenient to use the. old andwellknown relay counting chain which has been used in the past in telephony dial systems. Accordingly I employ relays RI, R2, etc up to Bid, which relays may be successively actuated.

As mentioned previously, my control system is responsive to the receipt of individual containers at the palletizer, which receipt is transmitted by operation of the feeler switch S4. Accordingly. when a container strikes the healer switch S6 (Fig. 1), it causes the operation. of one of" the relays of the counting chain. However, as will be described in connection with Fig. 20, the functional operations of the machine, including the n ra i n-of h ram, and-the operation or the turntable,v are not,- effected until the container has passed switch S4 and released it; Therefore a container 31 striking switch S4 steps the counting chain one unit, and after passage past the switch, placesthe functional circuits in operation. It will be noted with reference to Fig. 1 that after a container has left switch S4, it will be practically in position over the turntable 43. Therefore if aturn operation is tobe performed onthat particular container, it will be substantially in position. upon its release of switch S4, and appropriate contacts for its respective counting relay will energize the turntable to cause rotation of'this container. This operation of the turntable is in contrast to the operation of the ram. since the ram is spaced farther from the switch S4 and in addition. the container must travel to aposition in front of. the ram plate 16 before it may be operated upon bytherain. Since it is inconsistent with theturntable functioning of the present machine to cause a package to effect its own ramming, I haveso devised my countingchain that a Sucl ceeding package causes operation of the ram for a row of cartons preceding the triggering carton or container. Therefore, in summary. a con ta-iner may be rotated as it releases S6, but a container is rammed onlyby virtue of the succeeding container releasing switch S4.

Referring now to layer A in Fig. 19, it will be noted that the first four containers have been rotated. Therefore, referring to a, diagram I23. of these containers. as they are released from the switch S4, it will be noted that the first four:

. counting relays must include contacts that will cause a turning operation to be performed. However, the remainderof the cartons in layer A are not rotated and accordingly containers 5 to Hi, inclusive, pass through uninterruptedly. How ever, in order to ram the first four cartons off of the loading platform 39, the fifth container must operate the ram function for the preceding four, and accordingly thefifth container may be designated as a ram container. Likewise containers 5, 6,- and must be rammed by number 8 container. Further, when the counting chain has been completed and re-starts its sequence of ten, the first container must cause the rainming operation for containers 8, 5, and It).

It will be obvious that if layer B is deposited on top of layer A, the containers will overlap one another, thus binding the stack securely together. This overlapping array of containers is illustrated clearly in 1 and 5 through 7. Thus by alternating layers A and B an interlocking stack may be arranged- It will be obvious, however, that if desired, three or more separate layer arrangements could beprovided, but I have found in actual practice that two different layer arrangements are ample to bind together most pallet loads.

Considering new layer B, it will be noted that the first row of containers l to 3, inclusive, are not turned, and accordingly in their associated diagram IM- no turn function is indicated. The same is true of containers 5, and i5. However, the last four containers, are rotated, and diagram :24, indicates that these are turned. Further, the first row of. three containers must be rammed. by the fourth container passing switch, S4, and the second row must be rammed by the seventh container passing switch When all containers have passed switch S4 and the counting chain returned to one, number one -15 container of the next layer will, of course, ram the preceding four, and accordingly container I must be designated as a ram container.

Combining the diagrams I23 and I24 of layers A and B and adding together the ram and turn operations, it will be noted that if a single counting chain is to be used for both layers, then RI must include both a ram contact and a turn contact. Relays R2 and R3, however, need contain only turn contacts, since there is no ramming or turning in either layer A or layer B for these counting units. By adding together the fourth container of layer A and layer B, it will be noted that both a ram and turn operation must be effected, and accordingly relay R4 must have ram contacts as well as turn contacts. Counting unit 5 need only have ram contacts, since only ramming occurs, whereas in counting unit 6 no ram or turn contacts are provided since these operations do not occur for this container in either layer. R1 must be provided with ram and turn contacts to accommodate layer B, whereas ram and turn contacts for R8 are necessitated by combining layers A and B. R9 and RID include only turn contacts.

Having combined the operations for forming two separate and distinct layers into one counting chain, it is obvious that these ram and turn functions must be separated out as to whether layer A is being made, or as to whether layer B is being formed. It will be obvious that the problem could be avoided by having separate sets of contacts for each layer, but this would add undue complexity to the system. Accordingly when the ram and turn contacts are being perated to produce layer A, they maybe said to be operating in sequence A, whereas where they are being operated to produce layer B, they may be said to be operating in sequence B. Therefore a sequence relay RH may be provided so that the ram and turn contacts may be selectively operated in either sequence A or sequence B. As illustrated, RI'I has a rest position so as to give rise to sequence B (to produce layer B). When sequence relay RI'I is energized, its armatures c and b will be pulled upwardly by electromagnetic force and thereby engage the A contacts to give rise to sequence A which in turn produces layer A.

It will be noted with referenceto theram turn diagram that the counting relay RI must ram on both sequence A and sequence B. Accordingly the ram contact of RI may be connected directly to armature c of RI'!. However, the rani contacts for RA apply to sequence B only, and accordingly the ram contact for R4 is connected to contact B of RI? 0 armature. The ram op eration for R refers to sequence A, and accordingly the ram contact is connected to contact A of c of RM. The ram operation for R! refers to sequence B, and accordingly is connected to B contact. The ram operation for R6 refers to sequence A, and accordingly is connected to con- 7 tact A.

It will be the B contact of b armature of RI'l so as to give a B sequence operation.

In summarizing the content of Fig. 19, therefore, it will be noted that the ten cartons of either layer A or layer B are directly related one by one to ten relays of the counting chain; that is, the relays RI to RItl, inclusive. Further, the ram and turn operations for each container of both layers are combined insofar as the actual ram and turn contacts are constructed on the counting relays. These combined contacts are separated as to sequence by the sequence relay RI'I. In the rest position of RI'I, sequence B will be connected for operation to thereby give a layer constructed as layer B. However, when the sequence relay RIl is energized, its armatures c and b will be drawn upwardly so as to connect the ram and turn contacts into the A sequence, which will give a layer pattern in accordance with layer A.

The turn armatures of RI to Rlfl, inclusive, of Fig. 19 appear on Fig. 28 as the third armature, excepting R5 and RE which do not have turn armatures. Since the armatures are identifiable best by letters, these turn armatures are the c armatures, lettering them alphabetically starting with the lowermost as a; that is, the armature next to the relay coil. The ram armatures appear as follows: Rl-d; R B-d; RE-c; R'l-d; and R8-ct.

Counting, pulse, and sequence circuits The circuit for operating the counting relays RI to RIG, inclusive, is illustrated in Fig. 20, together with a circuit including pulsing relays REE and Bit for generating a pulse of current to be supplied to the functional relays, and this figure also shows a circuit for alternatively energizing the sequence relay RI? from one layer to the next. As mentioned previously, the counting chain is old and well-known in the art, particularly in the telephony art, and as such need not be described in detail. However, to assist with an understanding of the invention, particularly for those not skilled in the counting circuit art, a brief description will be given of the counting circuit. Fig. 20, like all the other circuit diagrams, illustrates the various switches, relay armatures, and relay contacts in their rest position. Initially, it should be noted that the counting circuit may have associated with it three or more operating relays identifiable in Fig. 20 as RI2, RI3, and RM, the numeral i! being omitted from this specification with regard to identifying a relay. The energizing pulsefor the counting circuit is obtained from the feeler switch S4 located on the continuously operating conveyor M as described in connection with Fig. 1. When a container strikes S4, its blade will be deflected to the B contact, thus applying a ground potential to that contact inasmuch as the blade is grounded as indicated. In this connection it will be noted that the complete counting chain is energized by a battery I25 which is representative of any source of D. C. current. Further, it will be noted that the positive terminal of this battery is grounded so that a negative potential will be applied to the counting chain. Therefore when switch S4 closes a circuit to ground, current will be supplied from the battery to the counting chain.

The closing of SA on B contact applies ground to the normally closed armature bof Rl2. Throughout this specification, a normally closed contact will be indicated as N. C. Currentispassed. throughv b. armature of RIZ to N; C; b; armature of,R.I3,thence to N. C. b armature of RM, and thence to, the ground connectionof RI; This passes current through RI, causing, it. to, become energized andfpulling its armatures a and b'downwardly. Closing of the RI armatures on their contacts passes'gro'und potential through armature a to one side of RI4.

turn; contacts illustrated in RI 9 to effect functionaloperationsh I When acontainer passes- S4, its blade will normally-return to its A contact, and a circuit; wilhbe'operated as will be described later. However, the breaking of the circuit with B contact of S4 breaks one connection to ground for Bi, causing it to ground itself through its armature a,jt.1.1r.ough,R I4, through a of RIB, and b of RIO; This circuit not only constitutes a selflioldingfcircuit for RI, but the current passing throughRI also passes through RI4, energizing thatrelay and causing its b armature to engage contact A which. is now connected through 17 'ofRI to. R2. Thus passage of a package past S14v causes RI to become self-holding through RII4 to energize R14.

"The next container striking S4 will establish aground connection through N. C. b of RIZ, b of RI3, thence through A contact. ofb of RI4, thencefthrough b-.of RI to energize R2. Thus RI and R2 are, energized at the same time, while the, blade of S4 is on contact E, R2

establishes a self-holding circuit through its a armature and) RI?! while its b armature connectsa circuit to, energize R3. When how'ever, the container passes S4 and the blade leaves contact B, the self-holding circuit through RI3 will energize RI3, and its a armature will pull down, thusbreaking the circuit to ground for RI4. Rl4naccordingly will drop out and the self-holding circuit for RI is simultaneously interrupted atja of RI3, and RI will drop out. Thus R2 will be the only counting relay energized; and RI 3' will also be energized.

The, next container striking S4" will pass ourrentjthrough N. C. b of RIZ, thence through b armature of R13 which is now on, A contact,

thence through b armature of R2 to energize R3fandR3 will lock in. Thus momentarily R3 and R2'will be energized. R3 will close a circuit toenergize R4; and;its a armature will close a self holding circuit'through RIZ; Thus when the container leaves S4, R3 will nevertheless remain energized due to a circuit to ground through its a armature, RI2, 'a, of RM, and b of RIB.

li'nergizing RI'2 however, will cause its a armature to breakthe'circuit for RI3, and hence also for RZ', and R2 will fall out. I

The fourth package will causeS4 to send a 111 1.86 through I), of R'IZ, thence through its A contactjto b.of'R3 toenergize R4. Rain turn "reestablished; Thus itfwill be seen that the container striking S4 will, lock. inthe. next. sue.- ceeding counting relay, and whenthe. container leaves S4, the preceding counting relay willdrop out. This sequence of operations continues until RIB is energized, whereupon its. 21 armature will break the circuit to ground for all of. the operating relays RIZ, I3 and I4, and thence will stop the counting and place. the, complete counting circuit in. condition. to start again on RI.

I prefer to operate some of the functional "relays (that is, ram and turn relays). by, a. pulseofcurrent that is generated after the package. has passed S4, so that only the desiredcounting relay will then be locked in. The use .of a pulse of current gives rise .to a certainty of. operation ascomlpared to operating therelays byfthejcounting pulse, inasmuch as containers, may. close S4, for varying periods oftime. Also,theuseofasepae rate operational pulse. avoids thejcomplications inherent in'the counting chain whenltwo counteing relays are momentarily. energizedtogethier.

Thepulse is generated in accordance'with my invention byutilizing tworelays RI 5 an'dRI'GL In this connection it will be noted that these. relays are selectively placedacross .a pair of .supplybus'ses or conductors including aground wire G andf'a negative potentialwireN Which,for exampl'amay be at =24.v., assuming that, 24. v, relays willh'e utilized. This supply for. the. busses Gand'N may be fromthe same battery I25used for the counting circuit, or maybe an independentsupplyh When a box has passed S4, S4 willreturn'tof its A contact, applying ground through A Contact of RIE to energize RI5. RI5 is of atyp'ethat'isslow to operate as well as slow to release. Thus there maybe a delayof .05 second for operation after so closes onA. This delaypermits.thelpreceding counting relay to drop out fully, as well as allowing for themechanicalinertia of its contacts in returning to, their normal. positions. is also correlated to the space between S.4-and'.th'e turntable 43 on conveyor. 4i, andalso correlated to the speedoi the conveyor so thatthe container that releasedS4 will then be squarely over the turntable and will be in. position for a. turning operation if that particular counting relay which it triggered closes. a turntable circuit. RIEwill then become energized, and its a armature will pass ground to R I 6., energizingrRI 6. The a armature of RIB will break the circuit at A", deenergizing RI5, but R I 5 will not drop out immediately .because itis slow to release, andmay for examplejtake .25 second to drop out. The a armature of RI 6 will establish a self-holding circuitfor RI 6 through its Acontact and.S4. Thus RI6'will remain energized as longas S4.is.inits normal position on contact A.

V A pulse of: D. C. currentwill be generated;,tlie duration of which isdetermined by thelengthof time that it takes for RIB to operate, The pulse duration therefore is dependent-upon the time that it takes Rltto operate its armatures. this connection RI 6 is av slow tooperaterelay, and may, for example, have adelay time, of .10 second. Therefore the pulse duration'willjequallthe oper ating timeof Rio of .10 second. This pulseisof sufficient duration to actuate in a very positive manner any of the ram .anditurn relays'thatare pulsed in'thismann'enas thesequick actingrelays operategenerally in .905 to ,filflsecond.

' Thepulsemay be 'conveyed'from a armature oi" RIB throughb and-c armatures ofJRIS Fandthencfe to -a turn pulse, bus I 26 .connectedto the "Bf-corrtactlof a .of R1 6. 'Arampulse bus 'I AW-maybe ea-- The delay.

to the c armature of RI4.

mam

nected to the contact of armature c of RIG, which factor, and accordingly the d armature of RM may be connected to I21 as illustrated in Fig. 28B. RIII will be energized on count numbers I, t, I,

and It], of which the first three only include ram functions, and accordingly the contact for this 11 armature may be connected to the ram armatures for these respective counting relays. Likewise R I 3 will be energized when counting relays R2, 5, and 8 are operated, and accordingly the contact of its d. armature will be to these relays, except R2,

wherein no ram function occurs The sequence operation of Fig. 20 is effected primarily by RI I as previously noted, and secondarily by ratchet relay 28. Ratchet relay 28 has one side tied to bus N, and the other side passes through switch S2, which is normally closed, down Thence it travels through the c armatures of RI3 and RI2 to ground. Therefore R28 will be energized only when RI2, RIS, and RH! are deenergized, since .their C contacts are normally closed. These three counter-operating relays will be deenergized only at the completion of a counting run. This is due .to the fact that the b armature of RII], the last relay in the counting chain, breaks the circuit for energizing any of these three operating relays. Therefore when the tenth box is counted off by the chain, RI2, RI3, and RI4 will all be deener- .permit the switch blade I32 to fall into contact,

closing the circuit to R I I. Therefore, since ratchet relay R28 is operated at the end of each count- ,ing run, it will cause RI'I to be alternately energized, thus alternating sequence A with sequence B. The manual switch S2 may be manually operated to change the sequence by breaking the circuit to ground through RI2, I3, and It. The next operation of the counting chain, however, will shunt the switch due to b armature of RI closing.

A visual indication of the particular sequence being operated may be obtained from a pair of lights I33 designated A and B according to the sequence, and connected one each to the two contacts of a armature of RI'I. Sequence B is normally in effect when RI'I is deenergized, as previously noted with respect to Fig. 19,

. In summarizing the circuit of Fig. 20, switch S4 being contacted by a box so that its blade ceding relay is locked in. However, when the container falls off of $4, the preceding relay will drop out. The return of the blade of S4 to its A contact operates the pulsing relays RI5 and I6 to apply a pulse of D. C. to the turn pulse bus I26 and the ram pulse bus I21. These conductors are connected to the armatures of the ram and turn contacts of Fig. 19 s that operation of the counting relays completes the circuit from these conductors I26 and I2'I tothe sequence relay contacts RI'I. The sequence relay RI'I is operated by the ratchet relay R28, which is energized only when all of the operatin relays RIZ, I3, and I4 drop out as RIO is operated. The manual switch S2 changes the sequence by holding out R28 when RIO isoperated. The entire counting chain may be returned to starting position by operation of the manual switch SI, which has the same effect as RIO being operated.

A conductor I38 may connect the a armatures of RI2, RI3, and RM to ground through N. C. b armature of RIB. Thus a ground circuit is supplied for the operating relays when RIII has been energized and the counting chain is returned to RI.

Turntable circuit and operation Illustrated in Fig. 21 is a schematic showing of the turntable43, together with a circuit for operating the turntable. The turntable struc ture has been described in detail in connection with Figs. 14 and 15, including the continuously rotating pulley 91 which continuously rotates a plate 95, and the switch actuating finger I06 is friction clutch connected to the rotating mechanism. The pin-99 normally stops the finger I05 from rotating.

Considering now the circuit, a turn pulse of current will be received by either contact A or contact B of the b armature of RII, the sequence relay. As described in connection with Fig. 19, the turn function is controlled by the counting relays I to Ill, inclusive, and the turn pulse is metered by the pulsing relays R I 5 and RI 5. Thus ground is'selectively applied according to counting relay number on the contacts A and B of RN. This ground connection passes through armature b of RI1 to energize RIB, the turn relay. The armature of RIB accordingly engages its contact, closing a circuit from the bus N through the lifting motor 98, through the relay armature to bus G. Thus the continuously rotating turntable 96 will be lifted and the turning function will take place;

A branch conductor I34 may be connected also to the b armature of RI! to establish a self-holding circuit for RIB, which circuit passes through S5 and through the armature of RIB to ground. Thus the short duration pulse from RI5 will energize the relay, and thereafter the relay will establish its own self-holding circuit so that it remains locked in long after the energizing pulse has ceased.

The lifting motor 98 not only lifts the turntable 96, but also lifts the finger I06 away from the restraining pin 99. Accordingly the finger I06 will rotate through approximately until it strikes the blade of switch S5, opening switch S5. This opens the self-holding circuit for RIB through conductor I34, and since the pulse from RIB will long since have passed, RIB will be deenergized and its armature will open. This breaks the circuit for the lifting motor 98, andthe turntable 96 will drop downwardly, thus stopping the turning operation.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that the turntable operation is more or less self-contained 

